Group Testing for SARS-CoV-2 Allows for Up to 10-Fold Efficiency Increase Across Realistic Scenarios and Testing Strategies.

ABSTRACT: Background: Due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, demand for diagnostic testing has increased drastically, resulting in shortages of necessary materials to conduct the tests and overwhelming the capacity of testing laboratories. The supply scarcity and capacity limits affect test administration: priority must be given to hospitalized patients and symptomatic individuals, which can prevent the identification of asymptomatic and presymptomatic individuals and hence effective tracking and tracing policies. We describe optimized group testing strategies applicable to SARS-CoV-2 tests in scenarios tailored to the current COVID-19 pandemic and assess significant gains compared to individual testing. Methods: We account for biochemically realistic scenarios in the context of dilutio

SUBMITTER: Verdun CM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8416485 | biostudies-literature | 2021

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature